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Characters
No Duplicate Characters We will not allow multiple Charles Xaviers, Supermen, etc. However, while there can only be one Superman, who is also Kal-El/Clark Kent, Majestic, Hyperion, Supreme, and Superboy may all be apped as separate characters. We will note, OC alternate versions are, for the most part, banned. Please keep this in mind when considering alts. Alternate Characters Players are allowed three (3) "normal" alternate characters, two of which may be Feature Characters (FCs). As a note, players who are found unable to keep their FCs active may be restricted to a smaller number, be it one or zero FCs. This will depend primarily upon the player's idle warning history and whether they have been removed from FCs due to inactivity. Note that this restriction does not count against characters that have been classified Minor FCs. Several types of characters exist. The ones we will be primarily concerned with are Feature Characters (FCs), Original Characters (OCs), and Adapted Feature Characters (AFCs). Every character falls into one of these categories. Your &TYPE should be set to match one of the following: FC: Any character which has appeared in any published work of any kind is technically a Feature Character. For FCs, a company must be included. We currently accept DC and Marvel, and if your character originates from another company or a medium other than comics, then they are an "Adapted FC." * You may only control one unapproved FC at a time. OC: If you are apping a character which is your own original creation, then it is considered an OC or "Original Character." Minor: This is a sub-set of FCs, but they do not count against the total number of FCs you may play. They may have no powers that exceed 8 points, and should be "uncommon" characters, "second tier" or lower. Support: Support characters may have no metahuman abilities that total more than 10 points, and may have no serious offensive capabilities. These characters exist only to give the game color, and they will not take up an alt slot. BG: Few characters will be approved for this role. BG Alts are not expected to be out in RP all the time; that is not their role. They should seek RP where they can get it, but should avoid making random public appearances. They do not take up an alt slot. Powered "support" characters are more likely to be approved for this status. Alt Interaction It is expected that the characters played by any one player will not conflict with each other. That is, they should not be in a position where they are inclined to directly interact, whether that be by aiding or coming into actual IC conflict with one another. They can be assumed to know of one another IC, and they may have had casual or incidental encounters, but they should still not have any notable connection to one another. Your characters should not be in the same room without staff approval and with a staff member present, and should never interact. Your alts should not be communicating, sharing knowledge, or sending messages "off panel." Generally, the following should be considered. * Two or more characters who are biologically related. * Two or more characters who are members of the same group orwho work at the same place of business. * A villain primarily designed to fight your own character or a group in which one of your characters is a member. * Direct, "on panel" interaction between alts of any kind or "off panel" interaction beyond a casual "pass in the hallway." Note that it is acceptable to assume that the characters have casual public awareness of one another and may even have had reasonable incidental contact. For instance, a player could control both Lex Luthor and J. Jonah Jameson, and JJ could have opinions about Lex that he speaks about, could even claim to have met him, but he could not have any business dealings with Lex or publish any editorials actually involving Lex or Lexcorp. Similarly, someone playing both Spider-Man and Superman could reasonably have one character refer to the other's reputation in the media, but neither should refer to having ever teamed up. Alt Conflict and Support Characters The entire purpose behind "Support" alts is to add color and flavor to the game. As such, to encourage playing them, certain adjustments have been made to the alt interaction rules where said characters are concerned. The basic idea is this: if the interactions between one of your major alts and a support character would be relatively minor and playing the support character could add something to RP, then it may be acceptable to play them with some assumption of "off-panel" interaction. What is key is that said interaction be minor enough to be acceptable and that it remain strictly within what is reasonable for the support character to do. To offer an example, suppose one was playing both Nightwing and Alfred. In this example, we will assume that Nightwing is living on his own, away from Wayne Manor. This would allow the player to control both characters, and Nightwing could even assume to interact with Alfred in various ways, such as speaking to him on the phone or meeting him in passing, or Alfred can be assumed to have done laundry, prepared meals, or offered other basic aid to Nightwing in a way that does not deviate from the scope of Alfred's place in the Bat-family. Alfred could not, however, in this scenario, be involved in any actual "on panel" scene with Nightwing, nor could he do anything outside his general role. So, while he could have cooked or mended costumes for Nightwing, he could not offer him aid with any specific plot or other scenario without explicit approval from staff. Alfred's major role should be to enhance the role-play of other players, rather than doing anything to interact with his own alt. The allowance is made simply to avoid severely breaking character by forcing the two characters to pretend that one another do not exist, thus allowing a player to add a bit of fun to the group he or she RPs with by controlling a support character. Any and all questions about this policy should be directed to staff. Note that players applying for a support character with such a relationship to one of their own alts will be scrutinized a bit more than other apps, as staff wishes to enforce this policy to be sure of fairness on the game. All that said, staff hopes that this will allow some RP opportunities that would otherwise be impossible. Villains In the interest of keeping the game interesting, each player may have a villain character who deos not take up an alt slot. (If a player chooses to play multiple villains, that is fine, but after the first villain, all of the others will take up alt slots as per normal.) This villain can be an OC or an FC -- it does not matter. These villains can be anyone from epic nemeses to chump henchmen, but their purpose is to oppose the game's heroic characters. These villains may be given greater leeway when creating plots and such to reflect their grand schemes (or petty heists), but they must also be cooperative, understanding that they play a vital role on the game. This means that, when the story/ plot calls for it, the villains need to be foiled. They are meant to be recurring foes, so villains will not generally achieve their "big" goals (such as world domination or the like), though they may achieve smaller things that will cause threats for the heroes to organize against. If they are imprisoned, they will always escape when dramatically fitting so as to begin to cause trouble anew. In general, staff will work very closely with anyone playing such a villain. MUX Idle Policy Our idle policy is pretty simple. Once a character is approved, they are expected to log somewhat regularly. If an approved character goes 30 days without connecting, they will be considered "idle." If an OC is idle, then staff may choose to @nuke the character without warning. If an FC is idle, then the character will be set unapproved and available for app. Newly approved characters who do not actually go IC within two weeks will also be considered idle unless another arrangement is made with staff ahead of time. Please note that if you are planning to be away for a specified period of time, then you may discuss that with staff. We are really pretty reasonable about such things. Also, please note that we do have a vacation command (+help +vacation) for that purpose. However, if a character is on vacation for longer than the time specified in their +vacation setting, they may be considered idle. Also, if a character has been logging in to keep from being "idle" but never seems to be available for RP, then staff may declare them in violation of idle policy anyway. Unapproved characters have a different set of idle standards. If a character goes a week without logging in before approval, or if they have done no work on setting up the character by that time, the character will be considered idle and may be nuked or put back up for application. This may also happen if you do not apply within a month, if you go two weeks after receiving a rejection without fixing it or if you do not go IC within a week after approval. OC's may be given more leeway than FCs, because they will not be keeping others from apping them. If you need more time to work on setting up your character, please contact *STAFF and clear it with us. We're willing to be flexible, but you need to keep up informed of your situation. :) Character Reputation All characters, FC and OC alike, begin their tenure on the game with no reputation (unless, as in the case of a very few characters, staff has set a reputation on them to begin with as part of the game's history). T gain fame or infamy on the game, one must be active! As explained in '+help +scene', after you complete a scene, you can make a news post about it or post a log to the MUX wiki. Then, you use the +scenelog command to request fame and/or infamy rewards for doing so. Obviously, performing acts of heroism (as well as anything that will garner a positive reaction from the public) will increase your Fame, while committing acts of villainy (or doing things that the public will not like, such as allowing your reputation to be distorted by a spiteful newspaper editor) will increase your Infamy. However, if a player chooses to perform acts of heroism but increase their Infamy as well, they must explain this to staff and justify the request. If you're uncertain if a scene qualifies you to gain any Fame or Infamy or if you have any other questions about this policy, feel free to ask staff about it! Character Restrictions "Overused" concepts may are subject to more scrutiny than other ideas, and will require more extensive apps. "Banned" characters and concepts will never be approved, so please do not apply for them. You must send in a Theme +request for a restricted character before you may app it. This generally means that you must have another approved character on the game before apping a restricted alt. "Restricted" concepts may be apped normally, but staff reserves the right to full reject the app for no reason other than that it is restricted, and we do not feel that it is appropriate to the game's theme at that time. Players may appeal this, if they feel they can make the concept work, by sending @mail to *THEME to either justify the app or to set up a time to discuss it with at least two theme wizards. If the appeal is granted, you may then concept app again, but approval is not guaranteed. If the concept is still seen as unacceptable and still restricted, then you will be final rejected without further appeal. Please note that some power sets, while not specifically overdone or banned, are considered somewhat problematic. Examples are reality manipulation, genetic manipulation, and power suppressing/stealing. We do not encourage these power sets. They may not be "disallowed," but they are difficult to do properly, and may be harder to get approved due to their potential for abuse. Although we do do our best to make sure that all restricted/banned FCs are listed, we know we have not thought of every character which we might choose to ban. It may therefore occur that a character may be apped that staff would conclude should be restricted or even banned. If you are considering applying for anything which might be difficult or thematically unusual, it is advisable to contact staff and make sure it won't be a problem. We're willing to help however we can. Some specific examples of unwise concepts are: Characters with "sex" powers. Characters who are unusually powerful and normally operate on a "cosmic" scale. (Heralds of Galactus, etc.) Characters that do not really have a "social life," are entirely combat-based, or are "trained killer" types and thus might not be particularly playable long term on a MUX. Restrictions on Character Ages Generally, characters on the MUX should be no younger than 15 years old. The reason for this is that staff does not believe that it suits the theme for children to be all over the place in a dangerous world where they would be constantly placed in danger. As such, we are placing limits on what ages characters may be. However, staff acknowledges that some valid concepts exist that work best when the character is a child. (Notable examples are Billy Batson, the Power Pack, etc.) To allow for this, staff has determined that each player may potentially play a single character below the age of 15, though the absolute minimum character age is 12 years old. No one is guaranteed the right to play a child character, however; ALL characters under the age of 15 are considered heavily restricted concepts. To receive approval for a child character concept, said concept must justify why the character should be so young to fit it, as well as offering up ideas as to how they can fit into a world that expects them to be supervised and kept out of danger. Note that these limitations apply just the same to any character who APPEARS as a child, regardless of actual age. Underage characters, especially children, will not be accepted as superheroes by government or law enforcement officials, even if those people might otherwise turn a blind eye to vigilante activity. In applying for a child character, you should be aware of that limitation, have a "Child" flaw to that effect, and be prepared to very seriously integrate that problem into your RP. Failure to play a child alt according to these limitations may result in losing the privilege to do so. Any questions about this policy may be directed to a member of Theme staff. Connections to FCs As this is not a canon game, a fully canonical background WILL be rejected. Don't assume that just because Reed and Sue are married in canon that they are even dating here on the game. Lois and Clark may not even know each other yet, and so forth. So, you should minimize the number of FC references you include in your character's background and other traits, and you may not define their relationship more than is absolutely necessary. OCs shouldn't need to use any at all. Any formalized connection between FCs, especially those such as marriage, MUST be approved by the players of both FCs. It may NOT simply be added into an application. In general, FCs may include other FCs in their BG without permission if: * You are playing the FC child of FCs, you may include the char's parents. * The FC is a relative of the FC you're playing. * The two FCs are integrally linked in the original source canon to the point where the average fan would find it hard to imagine one without the other. Examples of this would be Batman using Robin, Supergirl using Superman, or The Wasp using Hank Pym. You DO require permission in all other circumstances and for any use of specific FC names by OC applicants. Permission to use an FC may be sought from staff if: * The character does not currently have a player. * The player has not responded within a week's time. Dropping a Character If you decide to drop an alt, please submit a Theme +request. In the text of this +request, make sure to actually state your character's name and that you wish to drop them. FCs will be given new passwords and so their stats can be saved and their BGs read by future appers for the sake of preserving continuity. All resignations are considered final. If you want to drop, make sure you mean it before you do. If you're considering dropping a character or leaving the game, staff recommend taking at least 24 hours to think about it before sending in a resignation notice. Players who voluntarily drop an FC are obligated to wait a minimum of one month before they may apply for that same FC again (though in the case of extenuating circumstances, staff may waive this waiting period). In the case of an FC character "idling out," the player may re-app immediately upon their return the first time. If it happens again, then it becomes a matter of staff discretion. If a player is removed from their alt by staff for any reason, then they may not app that alt again unless staff specifically grants permission. "Temping" Feature Characters Sometimes, one would like to run a character from time to time, but doesn't feel up to doing a whole app and playing them long-term. A "temp" character is one which you are allowed to connect to but remains formally unapproved and still listed as available for app. They may access the grid via special code for the purpose of spawning RP. If they idle for extended periods, they may be booted. If they are inactive, the temp status will be removed. To temp an FC a player submits a Theme +request explaining in a paragraph (5-10 sentences) their plans for the FC and how long they intend to play it (which should usually be less than 30 days). To temp a char that is not yet concept approved, they must pcreate it and do a concept app, thus getting the character into the system for use. The player MUST @mail *THEME explaining that the alt is a temp, rather than submitting a +request. After concept approval, the character is transferred to FC Storage and may be temped normally. If a player has temped a character before, they may be allowed to do so again without a "temp app" at staff's discretion. Players must have at least one approved alt on the game before they may temp an FC. Staff reserves the right to refuse anyone the privilege of temping an alt for any reason, though generally we are likely to give it out if we feel that the player can handle the alt and will use it to help spawn RP. Character Changes and Upgrades There are three steps to getting an upgrade approval. Before you begin, you'll want to make sure that you've worked out how you're getting the upgrade. You may need an @mail from another player or a log if they are training you or giving you a tech. If you're requesting something found in "Character Restrictions," then you should speak to staff before you seek the upgrade. Also, please note that the higher the skill or power being upgraded, the more difficult staff may be to convince, especially if it's a skill going above 3. That said, here are the steps. Send in a Theme +request describing what you would like to add or improve. If you're going to need old attributes unlocked, let staff know. They will then consider the idea and instruct you as how to proceed. From there, get your intended upgrades set up on your character as per staff's instructions. It is also suggested that you keep a backup of all of your old traits, just in case. Finally, use the '+upgrade' command. This will let staff know you're ready to have your character update reviewed. Remember that it is fine to discuss an update with a staffer before sending it in, but a page saying "go ahead" from a wizard does not constitute approval. Note: No character update is to be played out before it is approved. If you want to change something, get approval before you play it. Skill improvement may be RPed if it is kept gradual and approval is sought before advanced ability is played. New skills need to be approved before being played. Also, please note that upgrades will not be approved less than one month after character approval (unless it is simply for a power or ability that you forgot to ask for at first), and players must wait a minimum of six weeks between update requests. Category:NEWS